Late Controversies Hit Mayoral Candidates
First, it was a controversy over accepting corporate campaign donations. Now, a recent newspaper article accuses Steve Bach of violating campaign finance laws for a second time in the Colorado Springs mayoral race.
“Five days before the election, that’s really disturbing and curious to me,” said Bach. “It’s a smear campaign. It’s last-minute dirty politics.”
Bach admitted to the newspaper’s claim that he hasn’t disclosed the occupations and the employers of donors to his campaign. Bach said he has failed to do so because the city clerk didn’t require it, and the campaign form doesn’t include a place for the information.
“We’re doing exactly what the clerk told us to do,” said Bach. “Last time, I had to hire an attorney to prove it was OK to accept corporate donations, contrary to what the clerk’s office said.”
Bach said the clerk didn’t mention that the donor information was required in a January meeting with all mayoral candidates. He said most recent city candidates, including outgoing Mayor Lionel Rivera, also didn’t report the information.
However, a spokesman for opponent Richard Skorman disagrees with Bach, saying the clerk did mention the requirement and that Skorman is one of only two early mayoral candidates who provided the information.
“What are they trying to hide?” said Kyle Blakely, Skorman’s campaign manager. “We were all at the same meeting. It comes down to a matter of transparency and openness, and whether or not that’s a reflection of how someone would operate as mayor.”
Blakely said all candidates signed an agreement to take responsibility to learn all campaign laws and that there is no excuse for not knowing what is required.
Bach said he has again retained legal counsel to investigate the matter, and he is willing to provide the information if it will protect his integrity.
“We’ll need to call a bunch of people,” he said. “We have 300 to 400 donors, (but) we’ll proceed and get that done.”
In a related matter, Skorman’s use of a fire truck in a weekend campaign appearance raised questions about whether campaign laws were violated.
The 35-year-old truck is not being used by the Colorado Springs Fire Department and was manned by off-duty firefighters during the appearance. The local firefighters’ union, IAFF Local 5, endorses Skorman as mayor. Campaign laws prohibit firefighters from endorsing candidates while on duty.
“We’ve used it in previous political campaigns,” said union president Jeremy Kroto. “That’s where some of my surprise comes from, is that we’re only hearing about it now. There’s so much scrutiny right now, and there should be. I don’t disagree with it. But we very frequently talk about what you can and can’t do.”
Kroto said the union volunteered to provide the truck for the event. He said the controversy won’t change how the truck is used on future occasions.
